Lakers News: LeBron James Issues Ominous Warning About Retirement

Will the L.A. superstar call it a career sooner rather than later?

Apr 29, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James looks to pass to point guard D'Angelo Russell. / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

After another playoff massacre at the hands of the Denver Nuggets, is Los Angeles Lakers All-Star combo forward LeBron James going to hang up his signature Nikes sooner rather than later?

Per ESPN's Dave McMenamin, James grimaced his way through a lingering sore left ankle for much of the season. He seemed to be in a reflective, existential mood following L.A.'s 108-106 Game 5 loss on Monday. The defeat saw the Lakers get booted out of the first round of the playoffs, 4-1. Last year, Los Angeles made a surprise run to the Western Conference Finals as a No. 7 seed, with largely the same core.

The team was promptly drop-kicked out of the postseason by Denver then, too, in a four-game sweep. The Nuggets went on to the win the title that summer, its first ever. This year, with a 47-35 record, Los Angeles finished as the No. 7 seed once again, thanks to a play-in game victory over the 49-33 New Orleans Pelicans. Unfortunately, that matchup put the Lakers on a collision course with the mighty 57-25 Nuggets in the first round.

Now, James is eyeing the potential next chapter of his life: retirement.

"It's still coming," James said of his decision to move on from the game. "It's not like, 'Oh s---, I'm playing so great this year, you know what? I might play and stick around for even more [time].' No. It's coming."

"It's cool," James said. "Because, to be honest, I don't see myself falling off anytime soon. But then like, what am I doing?"

The 6-foot-9 vet, who's already the oldest player in the league, suggested that he wants to pivot towards family time at some point fairly soon.

"I got a family," James said. "I got a 9-year-old daughter [Zhuri]. I got a son [Bronny] that's in college, that's deciding if he's going to go to college or go pro. I got a son [Bryce] that's about to be a senior in high school. I've missed a lot of family time and they've allowed me to do that and never put no pressure on me."

"That s--- is important too," James added. "What more [is left]? I've done everything I can do. There's nothing I haven't accomplished in this league that I've wanted to accomplish. So like at some point you got to [hang it up]."

 

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